ERIC Number: ED635827
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2023
Pages: 306
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: 979-8-3796-8698-7
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Relationships Between School, Teacher, and Feature Characteristics and Teachers' Access to Features within Digital Curriculum Resources for Mathematics Instruction
Harmon, M. Jill
ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, Utah State University
In 2019, RAND Corporation asked teachers which digital programs they used. This dissertation study expanded on this research by exploring the features contained in these programs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between teachers' access to features and school, teacher, and feature characteristics. This study had two research questions: (1) Which of the six features are most commonly present within digital mathematics curriculum resources that teachers report using often? What percentages of teachers have access to each of the chosen features? (2) What are the relationships between teachers' access to six chosen features of digital math curriculum resources and (a) school characteristics (e.g., grand band, socioeconomic status), (b) teacher characteristics (e.g., experience), and (c) feature characteristics (e.g., feature choice)? To answer the research questions, I first reported descriptive statistics as percentages of teachers who had access to each of the six features, as well as predicted probabilities for access to each feature calculated from the null model of the multilevel logistical regression. These results showed that practice problems and instructional videos were significantly more likely than interactive scenarios for all grade band/socioeconomic status combinations except teachers at high income high schools. This showed that traditional teaching methods (in the form of practice problems and instructional videos) still dominate other methods (e.g., interactive scenarios), even when teachers use digital curricula. Next, I used the final model to explore these probabilities within subgroups of the sample. Key results from this analysis showed that high school teachers were significantly less likely than elementary teachers to have access to all features except create/revise content. This sheds light on differences between elementary and high school curricula choices. Based on these findings, it appears that there is an important need for more high-quality digital programs for high school mathematics content, but these should not be developed at the expense of the ability to Create and/or Revise content. Last, the study contributed to the field by finding that significant differences in socioeconomic levels do, in fact, exist regarding digital material use, but only for middle school teachers. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
Descriptors: Mathematics Instruction, Educational Resources, Instructional Materials, Institutional Characteristics, Teacher Characteristics, Video Technology, Socioeconomic Status, Teaching Methods, Electronic Learning, High School Teachers, Elementary School Teachers, Middle School Teachers, Teacher Attitudes, Mathematics Education
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Publication Type: Dissertations/Theses - Doctoral Dissertations
Education Level: High Schools; Secondary Education; Elementary Education; Junior High Schools; Middle Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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